How to Fill (And Tie!) 100 Water Balloons in 1 Minute!

You may have heard about this crazy water balloon contraption already. A Kickstarter darling that's been buzzing in the news lately, Bunch o Balloons claims to be able to fill and tie off 100 water balloons in under a minute, giving you quick ammo for your next big backyard water balloon fight. We were intrigued by the concept and wondered: Does it really work? So we did what we do best: We called one in and put it to the test. And guess what, this thing does work (for the most part)!

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How It Works
You get a kit that comes with three hose attachments, and each has 37 pre-connected balloons. Add one attachment at a time to your garden hose, turn on the water, and the balloons will fill simultaneously in seconds. When they are filled up, give the hose a gentle shake and that will tie up the balloons and disconnect them from the attachment. Make sure you do this over a bucket large enough to catch all of the balloons when they drop off. The three attachments are supposed to give you 111 filled balloons in the end, but in our test, we lost a handful of balloons: a few never filled, a few dropped off before filling completely, and others didn't fill up enough to be usable. While we didn't quite get 100 balloons from our first trial, we assume that, with more practice filling and shaking, we'd get close. Also, since this is a first-generation product, the creators may still have some kinks to perfect in later iterations. Our advice: Make sure the hose attachment is on snug, so water doesn't escape and the flow remains fairly constant.

Want to see it in action? Here's a clip showing test engineer Arne Bostrom filling them and then heading to Central Park for a balloon battle with our summer intern Gil Lubkin:

So, Why Would Anyone Want This?Good question. I don't know about your family, but mine is competitive. We engage in some pretty elaborate water balloon fights during the summer. And from this, I know firsthand how time-consuming it is to fill water balloons, and that you often have balloon casualties before the fight even begins (balloons bursting, losing control while tying, etc). So a contraption that can fill and tie 100 balloons in less than a minute got me psyched, though understandably dubious.

The Final Verdict
If you're hosting a party, especially with a bunch of kids, and are planning a big water balloon fight, we say go for it. Even with a few lost balloons, the time and energy savings will be worth it. And yes, we can understand if you have environmental concerns about all those wasted balloons, but the creators tout them as being biodegradable (we didn't vet for this).

Of course, the product isn't available just yet in stores, but you can order it during a pre-sale on Kickstarter through August 21 for $17. The company behind the idea plans to start selling the Bunch o Balloons in 2015.

Rachel Rothman is the Technical Director of the Good Housekeeping Research Institute.